Former Lehigh University and current Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw thinks there would be a benefit to moving the NCAA women's basketball tournament back a week or two.

Former Lehigh University and current Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw thinks there would be a benefit to moving the NCAA women's basketball tournament back a week or two. (Harry Fisher, The Morning Call)

Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw said plenty of interesting things on her return to the Lehigh Valley this week, but one thing that resonated more than others was her thought that maybe the NCAA Women's Tournament could be moved back a couple of weeks to increase interest and viewership.

As it is, the women's tournament is interwoven with the men and pretty much overshadowed, even with the men's title game on a Monday night followed the next night by the women's title game.

The men's tournament is coming off a big year for TV ratings, its best viewership numbers in 22 years, thanks in large part to Kentucky's quest to go 40-0 and all big-name programs being in the Final Four.

The women's tournament, however, saw a dip.

The 3.1 million viewers for the UConn-Notre Dame rematch was down 28 percent from 2014 and ranked as the third-lowest rated title game in 20 years.

The semis, played on the Sunday night between the men's Final Four and national title game, fared better and were actually up four and 12 percent from the preceding year.

Could it be that people are simply tired of UConn's dominance in this sport and there's little suspense about who ultimately will be cutting down the nets, or would a different time slot be beneficial?

"Interest in our game could be a lot better," she said. "We've thought about moving it back a week or two later to give ourselves our own stage. When we're playing on the same weekend, everyone is focused on the men's tournament. Even more of the sponsors are going to the men's tournament. We're just not getting the attention that we need.

"We went to a Monday night [tournament] selection show so we'd have our own night. But ESPN goes before and after that show with a preview of the men's tournament, so we really didn't get what we wanted. So, if we wait and went a week or two later, people might be dying to see basketball.

"That's why I like the NBA playoffs. I never watch during the season, but I need to see basketball and that's the only thing on. So, that's what I am watching."

She's right. There's a bit of a lull between the end of the NCAA Tournament and the start of the NBA playoffs.

The Masters, the start of the baseball season and the Stanley Cup playoffs fill the void in general, but the basketball fan may embrace the women's tournament more if it is set aside.

Of course, the women's game needs not only more eyes on the big screens, but also more people in the stands at the regional portion of the tournament

"We've got to do a better job of getting fans in the 18-to-35 demographic out to our games because most of our fans are senior citizens and if you have a 9 p.m. tip, most of them are going to be in bed," she said to lots of laughter at the ArtsQuest SteelStacks Center. "We have to know who are fans are and how to attract them."

McGraw also believes the game would be enhanced by tweaking a few rules, including limiting the number of timeouts and maybe replacing them by going to quarters instead of halves.

She said her "favorite part of the game" is the 12-minute timeout during TV games when the head coach is interviewed by a sideline reporter.

"They call you over and ask you a question when the other team is on an 8-0 run and all you want to do is get back in the huddle and scream at somebody and all you can do is scream at Holly Rowe," McGraw said.

IVERSON DOCUMENTARY

Want to be reminded of a much better era of professional basketball in Philadelphia?

Showtime has "The Answer."

The pay channel will debut a 97-minute documentary on the life and times of Allen Iverson on May 16.

The film debuted at New York's Tribeca Film Festival last April.

Larry Brown, John Thompson and Dwyane Wade are all interviewed as is Iverson himself.

Wade calls him "pound-for-pound, one of the greatest who has ever played professional sports."

In a compelling trailer released for the documentary, he is described as charismatic, complicated, controversial, infamous and there's a voice over that says: "That's the body language of a thug."

Iverson, himself, says: "I wish it didn't have to be like that … to have to go through the things I went through … but I can't cry about that," he said. "This is what it is."

THE LEGENDS SPEAK

With the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight coming up quickly on May 2, HBO will offer a special that "lends historical perspective and spirited discussions with five elite prizefighters."

It premieres late Saturday night/early Sunday morning after the heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings from Madison Square Garden.

The half-hour special will open with Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman setting the stage for the much-anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao fight; a fight expected to set all box-office records.

Then Lampley sits down with Oscar de la Hoya and Shane Mosley, who faced both Mayweather and Pacquiao, to talk about how they trained and fought them and what they think each fighter will need to do to win.

HBO also got interviews with middleweight title-holder Miguel Cotto, former British boxing sensation Ricky Hatton and former four-division champion Juan Manuel Marquez, all of whom fought Pacquiao and Mayweather in Las Vegas.

Showtime is not to be outdone in "The Fight of the Century" buildup.

It has been showing a four-part series titled "Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao" which will conclude with an epilogue a week after the right.

The ringside announcers will include commentators from both HBO and Showtime — Roy Jones Jr. (HBO), Al Bernstein (Showtime), Lampley (HBO), Kellerman (HBO) and Jim Gray (Showtime). James Brown and Paulie Malignaggi of Showtime will host the pre-fight show.